SOCAN sues Maple Leaf Sport & Entertainment Ltd.

[phishtaper]

should stephen king receive a royalty everytime someone reads one of his books? rhetorical question, i know.

the more I read things about socan and this whole issue (and I have been greatly informed by many of the posts here ) the more I realize its a VERY complex issue. there are valid points of both sides of the debate. but (ir)regardless of which side you take, one has to tip their hat to whoever it was that had the kahoona's to actually set up the whole system in the first place and actually get people to pay for listening to music. the copyright board of canada sure does have some serious bureaucratic clout.

[The Chameleon]

Without Socan artists copywirtes will ne3ve rbe honoured or paid. They are a nessesary service....

well' date=' that raises a fundamental question then. why should artists, etc. be paid every time their music is played? what part of the game changed such that artists, etc. got paid over and above actual sales of the music? yes, radio pays royalties per spin, but Roller World? the circus? a dentist's office? socan is part of a larger international system that has managed to secure revenue for past product, unlike almost every other industry. and the methods they use would appear to be heavy-handed and inequitable. what justification can be offered for charging every single dentist in the country $94.51/year to play CDs THAT THEY ALREADY BOUGHT? sounds like having the cake and eating it too, if ya ask me. besides, socan will not open its books, so who knows what's going on. [/quote']

Indeed. Roller world, the dentists offcie and anyother public or rental space that uses music must pay for the broadcast mechanical/copywrites they use.

Why? Because the music in those situation is used as a tool to make the enviroment more appealing, and attractive to the user or consumer. Therfore becuase you are music to enhance your dentists office and make it more comfortable/attractive for the user and you are charging the user/client to be there, you are using music (as well as other things), to keep clients happy, do more business and make more money.

Using music in a business,is no different than using electricity. It's a service and you must pay for use, if you intend to use it to attract and make happy, business or clients....and hence make money.

NO FREE RIDES!

P.S. ALso in terms of small businesses or offices, the yearly SOCAN charge is very reasonable, like a couple hundred or so. Also most of the time for small operations SOCAN really never enforces thier fees.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Guest

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do dentists pay the artists whose cheesy art is on the wall every time someone looks at it?

what about the florist who brings flowers to a wedding? does she get paid by every guest who enjoys the flowers?

i have a nice table and chairs. i'm not going to pay the furniture-maker every time I sit down.

are these analogies accurate? does it seem logical?

[StaggerLee]

do dentists pay the artists whose cheesy art is on the wall every time someone looks at it?

what about the florist who brings flowers to a wedding? does she get paid by every guest who enjoys the flowers?

i have a nice table and chairs. i'm not going to pay the furniture-maker every time I sit down.

are these analogies accurate? does it seem logical?

I'm not sure those analogies apply. Patent and copyright restrictions depend on the end use of a product. You don't pay to display flowers that you buy because that is the use that is assumed when you buy them. If you collect seeds from those flowers, multiply them and sell them, you'll find yourself in legal trouble. A seed company producing flower seeds pays the patent holder a fee over and above the cost of the seeds if they intend to produce seeds of a patented cultivar and sell them. Likewise music. I think SOCAN would argue that CDs are sold for private use and that public use requires additional payment. I don't see a problem with defining the use of music as public or private and charging a different amount for each use. Think of DVDs. A DVD costs you a few bucks because it is assumed you'll view it privately. Video stores on the other hand pay a lot more for each DVD they buy as they are paying for permission to rent the videos which is a public use.

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i wonder if the end use is always decided by the seller, or if it's the consumer's decision to make?